[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 17355]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    EMPLOYMENT NONDISCRIMINATION ACT

  (Ms. TSONGAS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Ms. TSONGAS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge House leaders to let 
us vote on the Employment Nondiscrimination Act.
  In 1979, my late husband, Paul, was the first U.S. Senator to 
introduce legislation to ban job discrimination based on sexual 
orientation. I agreed with him then and feel just as strongly about 
ENDA today. Employees should be judged solely by their ability to do 
their jobs.
  After I was elected in 2007, I was proud to cast one of my first 
votes in support of the passage of the Employment Nondiscrimination 
Act, an effort spearheaded by the relentless Barney Frank. While ENDA 
passed in the House of Representatives in 2007, it did not move in the 
Senate; but on November 7, the U.S. Senate made history by passing 
ENDA. It is now time for the House to act--to pass ENDA and to finally 
expand protections in order to prevent employment discrimination.
  Mr. Speaker, for the sake of dignity, justice, and equality, let us 
vote.

                          ____________________